The only fire that sends a smell of smoke here is the one on the other side of the lake, and that only happens intermittently, but because there are so many fires burning in the region right now, the atmosphere is perpetually hazed. The light had a golden quality all day, but it was not a pleasant gold. It was like the light that came through the drawn window shades, which were old and yellowed, at nap time when I was a kid. I dreaded nap time, not because it intruded on my play, but because of that depressing light.

Of course I've felt melancholy whenever I've gone outside all day. But I've mostly stayed indoors. I woke up around eight o'clock this morning, after sleeping only about two hours, and went around closing all the windows, and then I turned the air conditioner on. Thanks to the cooling I was able to go back to sleep, and I slept pretty steadily until half past one. It's going to be noticeable on my electric bill, but totally worth it to miss most of this day.

When we get this sort of heat here I like to imagine going to San Francisco, where the ocean breezes and the fog tend to keep the summers mild, or even a bit chilly. But today I was shocked to find that yesterday the high temperature in San Francisco was 104. That was only five degrees less than it was here. If that keeps happening, what will I fantasize about when the heat becomes unbearable? Going to San Francisco is a plausible fantasy, but imagining myself some cooler place like New Zealand would drain my psychic bank account.

I don't know when I'll be able to turn off the air conditioner tonight. The forecast is for a low of 78 again, and that's about what I've got the house cooled to right now (I had it down to 72 when I was sleeping), which suggests I won't be able to turn it off at all, and might have to turn it lower again in order to get to sleep tonight. Nothing close to respite is due until Monday, though I'm encouraged by the forecast for next Friday, which predicts a high of 82 and a delicious low of 60.

All winter and spring we had British Columbia's weather, and all summer we've been getting Mexico's weather. If Donald Trump was any use at all he'd be building walls to keep out this shitty weather.